SCANNING CYTOMETRY FOR BONE MARROW PURGING

本一期项目的目的是开发一种扫描细胞术光疗仪的原型，并证明其在造血干细胞（HSC）移植中消除肿瘤细胞的可行性。该系统的两个主要组成部分，扫描细胞术和逐细胞激光消融，已经被证实。这项初步工作最新颖的方面是能够执行快速滑动扫描，同时保持图像清晰度与高性能自动对焦和扫描系统。扫描细胞术的关键组成部分——自动对焦、图像分割。，图像荧光测量和3hz的场扫描速率-将与激光烧蚀相结合，创建一个原型仪器。扫描和激光消融组件将组合成一个单一的系统，并在肿瘤细胞系模型系统上进行测试。该仪器将是完全自动化的：操作人员只需要将细胞放在显微镜台上，在5平方厘米的面积（约1000个视野）上的100万个细胞的光作用纯化将在一小时内完成，而无需与操作人员进一步互动。建议的商业应用：自体造血干细胞移植的生长受到肿瘤细胞污染的限制。目前还没有常规的肿瘤细胞清除手术，这些手术是必需的，其商业潜力是相当显著的。

The purpose of this Phase I project is to develop a prototype scanning cytometry Photosis instrument and demonstrate its feasibility for eliminating tumor cells from hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplants. The two main components of this system, scanning cytometry and cell-by- cell laser ablation, have been previously demonstrated. The most novel aspect of this preliminary' work is the ability to perform rapid slide scanning while retaining image sharpness with a high performance autofocus and scanning system. The key, components of scanning cytometry - autofocus, image segmentation., image fluorometry and a 3 Hz field scanning rate - will be combined with laser ablation to create a prototype instrument. The scanning and laser ablation components will be combined into a single system and tested on a model system of tumor cell lines. This instrument will be fully automated: the operator will be required only to place the cells on the microscope stage and Photosis purification of l million cells over a 5 cm2 area (about l 0.000 fields) will occur in under an hour without further interaction with the operator. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The growth of autologous hematopoietic stern cell transplants is limited by the presence of contaminating tumor cells. No tumor cell purging procedures are in routine use Such procedures are needed, and their commercial potential is quite significant.